The Ripples that we Make
by LifeInItalics
Summary: Follow Lily Evans through her sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts- a typical teenage girl, with a bit of magic (and some James Potter) thrown in.
1. In which the story begins

Dearest reader,  
Thank you for deciding to look at my lowly little FanFiction which is very probably undeserving of your lovely time and attention, and may possibly sit here on this site without ever being read. In which case, there is no point in me writing it at all. However, I want to, so I will. In this story, I will attempt to follow Lily Evans from the summer of her fifth year at Hogwarts to her seventh. A simple enough idea, yet a difficult task. I hope to fulfil both yours and my expectations during this journey on which we are about to embark.  
And so, we shall proceed!  
Love always,  
LifeInItallics

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I am not the great and powerful JK Rowling, nor do I claim to be. The only thing that I can claim to be mine concerning this story is the plot.

...

"But I love you".

Lily played the words over and over in her mind. The words that had meant everything and yet changed nothing. Why had she even agreed to meet Severus in the first place? It always ended in the same way, with him saying something awful, her shouting at him and then him apologising. Again. She had decided that that was going to be the last time she agreed to carry on with... Whatever her and Sev had left. Lily had refused to talk to him for weeks after the incident by the lake at the end of fifth year, but, on the the last day of the holidays she had cracked and agreed to meet him by the stream. She couldn't just leave it be, and end their friendship with unanswered questions and bitter feelings. So, Lily had gone to meet Severus. She remembered with painstaking clarity what had happened.

_"Hi," Severus had said awkwardly, eyeing Lily as though she would explode at any second._

_"Hi," she had answered, not knowing what to say. They stood in uncomfortable silence for a moment, the pressure building and building, until: _

_"Severus, we can't be friends any more!" Lily burst out, unable to look the boy in question in the eye. Staring resolutely at the ground, she continued, because now she had started, she couldn't stop, she couldn't. "Look, you made your decision, you chose your path, and I'm so sorry you chose it, because it's awful what you've become. And now it's too late. You can't balance that life with me, and I can't stand it any more. You and your horrible mates, all aspiring to be death eaters, all plotting the next way you can ridicule muggle-borns, it's disgusting. I can't be friends with someone like that, I just can't." Severus looked pained, and then looked away before answering,_

_"Don't think that. Never think that, Lily. Please, you have to give me a chance!"_

_"I gave you a chance!" Lily shouted, "I wanted to prove myself wrong about you, but it seems I was just fooling myself. It makes me sad, you know, to see you, to see the company you keep, to see what you aspire to be. You've become something dark now and you can't turn back. I truly am sorry for you Severus. I-" Lily took a deep breath. With tears in her eyes she looked at her old friend and whispered, "I wish it could have been different, I really do. I wish... I wish you could see how wrong you are. I... Bye, Sev." With that, Lily turned to leave, planning on a quick getaway and no complications._

_"Lily please!" She heard Severus cry behind her, "Wait!" He ran in front of her, blocking her path.  
"I did wait Severus!" Lily exclaimed, "But I'm tired of waiting now! You chose to become this, and so you chose to end our friendship! You need to let me go now Severus. Please." Angrily brushing tears away, she made to push past the boy, but what he said next made her stop in her tracks._

_"But I love you". Lily's heart stopped, her mind reeled, and for a second, the world span. Staring up into the anguished face of Severus Snape, she froze; for once, completely unsure of herself. Bright green eyes locked onto black ones and Lily uttered the harshest words she thought she was capable of ever saying._

_"I'm sorry Severus. It's too late to say that now." Lily, who was at that point very close to breaking down, walked away, sure that the vision of Severus Snape's heartbroken face would be branded onto her mind forever._

Lying in her bed staring up at the ceiling of her bedroom Lily wondered if she'd made the right decision. After all, they were only fifteen, Sev could just be going through a strange phase that he'd grow out of. She could have just ruined an entire friendship with a few words. No, Lily thought with finality, you made one too many allowances for that boy, and it's time to move on. But try as she might, Lily could not keep out the little voice creeping in from the back of her mind. Should she go back and apologise? After all, it was Severus who had introduced her to magic, helped her make the transition into the unknown that bit easier. Had he not been her only friend in those first few scared days? Had he not stuck by her until now? Except, what had he really been feeling? He said he loved me, thought Lily, unsure of her entire relationship with her so-called friend. How long was he harbouring those feelings? The red head was still mulling that one over when there was a soft knock at her door, breaking her reverie.

"Lily? Sweetheart it's late, you've an early start tomorrow, turn off your light now and get some good kip," her mother called quietly.

"Yeah, ok Mum," Lily sighed, glancing around her room one last time to check all was in order. Her trunk stood in the middle of the floor, all packed and ready (she was a very organised girl), her owl cage next to it. Lily had decided to let her tawny grey owl, Athena, out all night to stretch her wings, since she'd be cooped up all day tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow Lily would be returning to Hogwarts. Now that she thought about it, she realised she was really rather excited about going back to the castle. She loved her home of course, and her parents, but she couldn't deny, the feeling of magic at her school was something she missed. Smiling slightly, Lily rolled over, switched off her lamp, and began to drift off to sleep, all thoughts of Severus Snape banished from her mind.

...

Beep...beep...beep...

"Mph," Lily groaned and rolled over, her fiery red hair splayed around her head on the pillow. "Urgh, five more minutes," she muttered, ignoring her alarm completely.

Beep...beep...beep...

Unfortunately for Lily, her alarm did not want to be ignored. Opening one brilliantly green eye, she reached over and fumbled around on her bedside table, finally locating her alarm clock and silencing it. "Stupid device," grumbled Lily, "Much too loud." Swinging her legs over the side of her bed, she sat up, yawning loudly as she did so. Standing up, Lily swayed for a moment with dizziness, before stumbling across the room (and nearly tripping over her trunk) to switch on the light.

"Oh bloody hell," she mumbled, shielding her eyes with her hand against the bright light that had suddenly flooded the room.

Lily Evans was not a morning person.

She opened the door and peered out into the hallway, looking for any signs of life. It seemed the rest of the Evans family were up, judging by the sound of the radio and the smell of bacon that was wafting up the stairs. Across from Lily's bedroom, the bathroom door opened and out walked her father, a tall man with a kind face and slightly greying short red hair, dressed and ready.

"Good morning dear," he said cheerily, addressing his bleary eyed, messy haired daughter, "Sleep well?"

"Hmph," was Lily's reply, as she grabbed her towel and trudged across into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"Yes, I thought so," said Mr Evans to the door.

...

"Alright everyone, seat-belts on? Lily, sure you haven't forgotten anything? Oh Petunia, can you remember if I locked the door?" Violet Evans fussed as her husband revved the car engine. After two fights over the shower, one misplaced scarf, an incident with curling tongs and a mad search for the house keys, everyone had finally managed to get themselves into the car.

"I locked the house, Vi, we've all got our seat-belts on, and if Lily's forgotten anything it's too late now. Everything's under control dear, we're even on time this year," Richard Evans soothed, starting to back out of the drive. Lily rolled her eyes and smiled slightly- her mother always got herself worked up when it was time to send her daughter off to school.

"I _still_ don't see why I have to come," Petunia began to complain again, "I mean, what's the point?"

"The _point_, sweety, is that the whole family should always come and say goodbye to Lily at the station! It's tradition, and besides, you won't see her for ages, we all have to see her off together," Violet replied for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Lily and Petunia's mother would just never accept that her daughter's relationship could never be repaired, and still insisted on Petunia coming to see Lily off every year.

"Lily doesn't care wether I say goodbye or not," Petunia muttered under her breath so that only her sister could hear. "Her and her stupid magical school, what a freak,". Lily kicked her in the shin as hard as she could and Petunia glared at her. Lily glared back.

It was a rather long car journey.

...

Lily stepped away from her trolley which had her trunk and Athena balanced on it to hug her father first.

"Bye Poppet," he smiled, holding her at arms length, "Have fun!"

"I will Dad," Lily smiled back, "Don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone," she joked, bumping him on the shoulder before turning to face her slightly tearful mother.

"Alright sweetpea," she began, pulling Lily close, "You write every week now, and try your best, I know you'll be brilliant no matter what. We're so proud of you Lils," Mrs Evans exclaimed.

"Thanks mum," replied Lily fondly, kissing the curley blonde woman on the cheek. Her mother smiled, stepping away from her daughter to stand next to her husband, giving Petunia a little push forward as she did so.

"Um," said Lily awkwardly. She never knew what to say to her sister any more. "I suppose, er, goodbye then,"

"Yes I suppose so," agreed Petunia, wrinkling her nose as though smelling a bad odour. "I'll, er see you at Christmas then," she finished lamely.

"Yeah, see you at Christmas," said Lily hurriedly, turning away to hug her parents one last time.

Mr Evans had his arm around his wife, the couple beaming at their daughter as she walked towards the stone barrier. Lily turned to wave at them before leaning casually against the magical stone barrier with her trolley.

In a moment that you would only notice if you were to look carefully, through the bustling crowds of Kings Cross station, a girl with fiery red hair and startling green eyes, pushing a trolley with an owl on it would disappear. Just another moment like any other, you may think, but this is the moment our story really begins.


	2. In which everyone is surprised

Dearest Reader,

I am very sorry for the lack of updates, I have been awfully busy with exams. However, the summer holidays have begun, so hopefully I will be writing more often! For now, on with the story.

Love always,

_LifeInItalics_

...

Lily stepped through the barrier and smiled to herself at the familiar sight of platform 9¾. The Hogwarts express billowed out steam over the hordes of students and their parents. People could be seen greeting friends and enquiring about holidays, or hugging fussing mothers. Owls hooted and cats meowed as they were pushed along by their owners. From tall seventh years loading trunks onto the train, to scared first years worrying about the sorting ceremony, everyone had an air of excitement about them and a babble of chatter and laughter floated around the platform. There were new spells to be learnt, new adventures to be had, new friends to make - and Lily couldn't wait to get started.

Glancing at the clock, which read five to eleven, Lily began to head towards the train, looking around in search of any familiar faces. She stopped by the Hogwarts Express, and just as she was about to hoist her trunk onto the train, someone poked their head out of the nearest window and exclaimed,

"Lils!" Lily jumped and looked around, squealing when she located the voice's owner.

"Marlene! Merlin you scared me! Get out here and let me see you!" Grinning, Marlene McKinnon popped her head back inside the carriage before reappearing in front of Lily a few seconds later.

"Here, I'll take Athena, you get the trunk - the girls are waiting inside, c'mon," Marlene told Lily, grabbing the owl cage and standing aside so Lily could get her trunk onto the train. Once this was done, the two girls turned to hug. Lily had missed her best friend over the holidays - she never really saw anyone, but still kept in touch via owl. Marlene was looking well, Lily thought; she'd been to France over the summer and a tan suited her. Her long brunette curls framed her face and smiling hazel eyes, and she had grown during the holidays, making her slightly taller than Lily. The girls grinned at each other, and Marlene twirled a piece of Lily's hair around her finger.

"Your hair's grown a lot," she remarked, "It suits you long, you know,"

"Not looking too shabby yourself McKinnon," Lily replied cheekily while beginning to pull her trunk towards her friend's compartment.

"Yes, well, I try," said Marlene loftily from behind her. Rolling her eyes fondly, Lily slid open the door to the compartment she and her friends had used since first year. She was met with cries of "Lily!" That came from the two grinning girls inside. Dorcas Meadowes, darker skinned with exotic almond shaped brown eyes and very long dark hair, along with the classically beautiful English Rose Mary Macdonald were Lily's other two closest friends. Dorcas was still the tallest of the four, and Mary, to Lily's amusement, had stayed petite. Lily couldn't hold back her silly smile as they hugged, a comfortable familiarity settling in. She and Marlene lifted up her trunk and Athena out of the way before sitting down opposite the other two girls. They began to swap summer stories, and, inevitably, the conversation turned to Severus.

"So Lily," started Mary, growing slightly more serious, "did Severus try and talk to you? Because if he made you feel guilty or apologise, I will personally come over there and -"

"It's over," interrupted Lily quietly, "whatever we had, it's finished. I agreed to talk to him yesterday and, well, it wasn't pretty... Anyway, I told him that our friendship was finished, and that was that." Lily felt slightly guilty that she hadn't told the girls what Severus had told her, but, truth be told, she didn't really want to think about it. She noticed a slight frown on Dorcas' face and realised her friend suspected there was something Lily wasn't telling her. However, to Lily's relief, Dorcas did not press the subject and instead murmured,

"I'm really sorry Lils. That was a special friendship, I'm sorry you had to finish it. But at the end of the day, you know it was the right thing to do, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Lily replied, eyes glued to her shoes, "I think you could say that he chose the wrong path. It won't lead anywhere nice, and I just can't keep making excuses for him. I think, maybe, it was always going to end like this. It makes me sad, though, that people our age are already dark. It makes me really sad." She sighed before raising her head to look at the other three. "But for now, let's be happy! Year six at Hogwarts!" The girls laughed to dispel the heavy mood and then cheered as the train began to chug out of platform 9¾.

Several compartments down, four boys were sat doing exactly the same thing. Two of them lounged comfortably opposite the others, and whooped loudly as the train picked up speed. Both were tall and athletic, with handsome features and dark hair, although one's was messier and more unkempt than the other's shaggy mop. This one was James Potter, who also wore a pair of square glasses perched on his nose. Next to him was his best friend, Sirius Black. The two were easily the most popular boys in school, and were highly sought after by many girls - though any relationships they had rarely lasted more than a couple of months. Sitting in the other two seats were Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin. Remus was also tall, but had more of a shabby look about him, despite his young age. He had tousled sandy hair and soft amber eyes, and, if you were to look carefully, patterns of thin white scars travelling all the way up his arms. Next to him was Peter, who was slightly shorter and more plump than his friends, with a round baby face, light hair and watery blue eyes. The four boys were a close knit group, notorious at Hogwarts for their pranks and trouble making, and had been dubbed 'The Marauders' because of it.

"Right then lads," James began, "Another year of school - looking forward to it?"

"Yes," replied Peter uneasily, "But we've got NEWTs, you know?" All the boys knew what Peter was talking about. He was not as bright as the other three, and often struggled with his studies. However, he had good friends, and they helped him as much as they could; they hated to see him feel as though he was failing.

"Ah come on Pete, you didn't do so badly in your OWLs. Besides, we'll help you, like we always do." Sirius consoled.

"I suppose," agreed Peter somewhat glumly. But then, brightening considerably, "Plus, we've finished the map, haven't we?"

"And" James added, "We've perfected our 'little tricks' too! This is definitely going to be the best year yet!"

"Quieten down would you, Prongs," worried Remus, "I am supposed to be a prefect, you know?"

"Oh of course, how could we forget boys? Our ickle Moony has so many responsibilities these days, what with being such a grown up prefect!" Sirius cooed, leaning back with his hands behind his head, as James and Peter chuckled and Remus rolled his eyes. Despite the talk of prefects, however, all four friends allowed themselves to grin at one another for a moment, a thrill of excitement going between them at the thought of all the things they could do in the upcoming year. This moment was promptly ended, though, with Remus standing up and saying:

"Oh shit, I forgot about the bloody prefect meeting - I'd better go, see you in a bit!" And he dashed out, narrowly dodging the trolley lady as he hurried down the aisle.

Lily was bored. It had only been ten minutes, but it felt like she had been in the meeting for at least an hour already. Squashed in between Lucinda Talkalot and the window, listening to Greta Catchlove (the head girl) drone on while at the same time being subjected to Mulciber's disgusted glances, Lily was beginning to contemplate simply jumping off the train. So it was fortunate really, that Remus Lupin chose that moment to burst in, panting:

"So... sorry... completely forgot... won't happen... again..."

"It better not," replied Greta, pursing her lips and frowning at Remus icily as he squeezed in opposite Lily. She gave him a sympathetic look, while surreptitiously nodding at Greta, motioning slitting her own throat as she did so. Remus struggled not to laugh, and then gave Lily a look that said 'shut up or we'll be caught', before turning to listen. Lily smiled to herself and looked out of the window to stare at the surrounding countryside that whizzed by. She liked Remus, and considered him a friend. During their patrols together, she found him to be a very kind, down-to-earth person. If only he could get that gang of his under control... She supposed that was what Dumbledore had been thinking, when he made Remus prefect, but a fat lot of good it did. As nice as Remus was, he was loyal to his friends, and often ignored their antics. Although, Lily mused, he probably thought they were too good to be true, staying by his side despite his 'Furry Little Problem'. It was the one good thing Lily had to say about James Potter - he had become fierce friends with Remus, and obviously didn't care one bit that he was a werewolf. Merlin, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle another year of Potter. Pigheaded prat. Who did he think he was, asking her out every five minutes? Oh, the hexes she would use against that boy if she was allowed...

"Evans? Evans?" Lily was jerked out of her reverie suddenly by Greta's annoyed voice. "Did you get that?"

"Hm? Oh, no, sorry, didn't quite catch it,"

"I said, you'll get your patrol timetables during the feast, alright?" Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes. When else would they get the bloody things? "Right then everyone, that concludes the meeting, I think -" Greta was cut off by a small stampede of people - including the head boy - all desperately trying to leave the stuffy compartment. Lily was surprised; she must have daydreamed for longer than she realised, if the meeting had already finished. As a result of her slow uptake, she was last out of the doors, and once onto the passageway was shoved aside by Mulciber, who was heading towards the Slytherin compartments.

"Watch it, Mudblood," he snarled. Lily stiffened, one hand instantly ready to reach for her wand, the other balled up into a fist by her side.

"How dare you," she hissed, narrowing her eyes as she addressed the dark haired boy. "How dare you use that name, you filthy little piece of -"

"What's going on?" A sharp voice interrupted. Remus came to stand behind Lily, glancing warily between her and Mulciber, whose hand had also reached for his wand.

"Nothing. Mulciber was just leaving, weren't you?" Lily replied coldly, staring at the boy in question straight in the eye, daring him to contradict her. After a few seconds, he gave Lily one last scathing look before turning and walking away. She watched him go, relaxing slightly once he was out of sight. She faced Remus, who sighed and looked at her shrewdly. Lily stared at the ground, feeling slightly as though she was about to get a telling off.

"You're going to get yourself into trouble if you carry on like this," he said.

"I know," Lily replied quietly, looking up at Remus' concerned face. A wave of guilt washed over her. Her friends were worried about her getting hurt, she knew it, but here she was, fighting with dangerous people with a complete disregard for the consequences. Lily had known it would be worse this year; the name-calling, the discrimination. It was bad, but, on the other hand, she knew it was bigger than that. Once she left school, being called 'mudblood' would be the least of her worries. "I'm sorry, I know I should be more careful, I just... just..."

"You can't let them get away with it," Remus finished for her.

"Exactly," agreed Lily. "But I shouldn't just start fights I can't win. If you hadn't arrived..."

"Well, I did," said Remus bracingly. "So let's not go over what if's. Come on, we'd better head back - people will wonder where we are," Lily nodded, and they began to walk together in silence. Once they reached Lily's compartment, she said:

"Thank you, Remus. For... stepping in. I'm grateful. But... I'd appreciate it if maybe we just kept this between you and me. If my friends knew, well, I don't want anything bad to happen before we've even started, you know?"

"I was thinking exactly the same thing, don't worry," Remus smiled at her. Lily grinned back.

"Alright then, I'll see you later," she said, before sliding open the door to the compartment and stepping inside.

"Lily!" Exclaimed Mary, "We were about to send out a search party! What took so long?"

"Oh, nothing really," replied Lily with a somewhat fake smile. "Just Catchlove going on and on about how great it is that she's become head girl," They all laughed as Lily took her place.

"I can't believe Dumbledore made her head girl," said Marlene, offering Lily a pumpkin pasty, which she took.

"Mm," mumbled Lily through mouthfuls, "that awful nasally voice she has, and the way she's always flipping that stupid platinum blonde hair..." And so the girls spent a good ten minutes happily bitching about Greta Catchlove, which lead into another half an hour of discussing various girls (and boys) at the school.

"Urgh, I can't believe Nina Victor went out with Diggory _and_ Potter at the same time," said Dorcas disgustedly.

"I know!" Agreed Marlene. "And Potter knew as well!"

"Oh, well, we are talking about Potter here. He probably didn't care less!" Mary laughed.

"Speaking of Potter," said Marlene, turning to look at Lily with a sly grin on her face, "what are you going to do about him this year, Miss Evans?" Lily sighed exasperatedly.

"Oh, I don't know... I think we've reached a sort of stalemate. I won't be so awful to him if he stops asking me out all the time... Stupid bloody idiot, strutting around the school as if he owns the place..." The girls rolled their eyes, and Dorcas quickly cut in before Lily's mutterings turned into a full blown rant, as they so often did.

"But you've not actually talked about it? It's just an unspoken agreement?"

"Oh - well, we sort of... maybe..." Lily turned red. She was keeping too many things from her friends these days.

"Lily Evans! Did you talk to Potter without telling us?" Gasped Marlene, looking at Lily with melodramatic shock.

"Well, after the lake incident, he came to apologise. Said he'd stop being such a dickhead to me if it meant I stopped being so mean to him. I agreed. I mean, it's a fair deal, isn't it? Saves us all a lot of bother, you know?" There was a short silence in which everyone stared incredulously at Lily.

"Well, yes, Lily," agreed Mary, "but why didn't you just do that three years ago?" Lily looked around at her friends, who were still staring at her with slightly amused looks on their faces.

"It is rather stupid, isn't it?" She said, beginning to smile. And then, a giggle slipped out of her mouth. That was all it took. All four girls were practically crying with hysterical laughter, bent double as they struggled to breathe. "It's just, him and Black... they just... drive me bloody... insane..." Lily managed to gasp out. This only renewed the girl's laughter. After several minutes, though, they were able to calm down, and sat in companionable silence before the door was slid open to reveal none other than Sirius Black himself.

"Hello, ladies," he smirked, leaning against the door. The four girls took one look at him before bursting into laughter again. "Hey!" Said Sirius in a slightly offended manner, standing up straight. "Hey, what is it? Have I got something on my face? Seriously - no, that wasn't meant to be a joke, stop it, just shut up will you, Merlin..." He began to back out of the compartment, but bumped into Remus, who looked as though he had just ran all the way there.

"I'm so sorry!" He shouted over Sirius to the girls. "It was a dare, he doesn't really mean - hey, why are you laughing? I thought..." He gave Sirius a bewildered look and said, "Er, Padfoot, am I missing something here?"

Looking just as confused as his friend did, Sirius replied, "No, mate. Whatever you're not getting I'm not either," both boys turned to watch the girls, who had managed to pull themselves together and were wiping their eyes.

"Sorry," said Dorcas, still chuckling, "You had to have been there, I'm afraid,"

"Right... Well, I think we'll be going, shall we Moony..." Said Sirius, still looking slightly scared.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," agreed Remus. But before either of them could leave, James and Peter appeared.

"Well, did you say it?" Asked James eagerly, trying to peer inside the compartment.

"Didn't get the chance, sorry Prongs," Sirius informed him. James' face fell.

"Oh. Why not?" At this, Sirius gave the girls a strange look.

"Because this lot are bonkers, that's why," he said. James frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Mary.

"Black," she said curiously, "what were you going to say?"

"Yes," added Lily suspiciously. "Please, do tell us?" All the girls stared up at Sirius, who was now looking rather uncomfortable.

"Well, it was a dare, you see," began Peter from next to James, "he was supposed to tell you that his - mph!" But was silenced by Remus shoving his hand over his mouth to stop him from speaking.

"Right, come on Pete, that's quite enough of that! Bye!" And with that, he tugged a protesting Peter away, leaving James and Sirius to stand in the doorway. Everyone was feeling very perplexed with the situation, and this feeling only grew when James spoke.

"Alright, Evans?" He asked awkwardly.

"Fine thanks Potter," replied Lily, equally as awkward. "You?"

"Very well, thank you," James said. And then, abruptly, "Right, well, I'll be off then," and he strode away. Sirius watched him go in disbelief, before looking at Lily, and then back at James' retreating form again.

"Hey! Hey, Prongs! What - what is going on today? Oy, wait for me!" And he ran to catch up with James. Inside the compartment, Mary, Marlene and Dorcas were watching Lily, completely gobsmacked.

"What?" She asked, looking between the three of them. "I told you we had an agreement, didn't I? Did you not believe me?"

Inside the boy's compartment, the four friends were sat in silence. Sirius decided to break it.

"What," he began, "in the name of Merlin's pants just happened?"

"Well," said Peter, opening his packet of Bertie Bott's, "Sirius went to do his dare, and then Remus started to run after him-"

"No, Wormtail," interrupted Sirius impatiently, "I was referring to the fact that Prongs here did not just ask Evans out!"

"You what?" Exclaimed Remus incredulously, thumping Peter on the back because he had swallowed a bean in surprise.

"Well, come on," reasoned James, "it's getting old now, isn't it? We've both agreed that it's all much easier if I just stop asking her out all the time - it's not as if she's going to say yes any time soon, let's face it. Plus, it means she won't be so horrible to me, which sounds great, if you ask me,"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Asked Sirius, who looked appalled at the news.

"I must've forgotten to mention it," replied James, who didn't seem nearly as bothered as his friends.

"I was with you the whole bloody summer, Prongs, and you just forgot to mention it?" Pointed out Sirius disbelievingly.

"Oh, come on guys, it really isn't that important," said James, looking exasperatedly around for someone who would agree with him.

"Prongs, you've given up on Evans and you're telling us it's not that important?" Peter verbalised everyone's thoughts.

"Oh, Merlin, no!" James exclaimed, his face sincere. "Of course I haven't given up on her - I've just changed tactics is all,"

"Well, that's a relief," admitted Peter, "because, James, mate, it was never going to work." At James' indignant look, Remus and Sirius dissolved into laughter.

"I'll have you know," James retorted, "that had I kept going with that plan, Evans definitely would have said yes at some point!"

"But you just said it yourself, Prongs," said a grinning Sirius, "it wouldn't have been any time soon!" James sighed huffily as Sirius and Peter howled with laughter, and then caught sight of Remus' amused face.

"Oh, shut up Moony," he grumbled.

"What?" Remus replied, smiling. "I didn't say anything!"

"No," muttered James darkly, "but I knew what you were thinking, which is just as bad."

Several hours later, the girls had changed into their robes and were getting ready to leave the train. Lily was beginning to feel the innate sense of excitement she always felt when starting the new school year. Her bright green eyes sparkled as the train began to slow.

"You are a strange one Lils," Mary commented as they left the compartment and headed towards the nearest door. "I never get as excited as you when we start school,"

"I know, but you haven't spent a whole summer away from magic, remember?" Lily replied, grinning at the familiar cries of 'firs years, this way!'.

"Hi Hagrid!" She shouted over the sea of students. He waved back with a hand the size of a dustpan lid.

"Alrigh' Lily?" He bellowed back, scaring the wits out of a nearby first year. Lily gave him a thumbs up before she was pulled back into the crowd by Marlene.

"Come on," she said, "we've got to hurry up." Lily nodded and followed her three friends. After peering into several already full up carriages the girls finally managed to find an empty one, and settled down inside it. Almost as soon as they had done so, it lurched into motion, carrying them away from Hogsmeade and towards Hogwarts.

"What is it that makes these things go?" Mary wondered out loud.

"I dunno," replied Marlene slowly, "I never really thought about it properly,"

"I heard that it's thestrals, you know," speculated Doe.

"Really? Thestrals... I'm not sure if that's good or bad," said Lily, trying to look out of the window at the seemingly empty space in front of the carriage.

"Hm, well, thestrals creep me out, with all that death stuff," Mary said with a shudder.

"I don't know," said Lily mildly, "I bet they're nice really. I feel sorry for them - it must be lonely," Marlene rolled her eyes.

"Of course you would say that Lils," she said, chuckling when Lily retorted indignantly,

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think what she means is that only you would be able to see the beauty in something you can only see if you've watched someone die, Lily," smiled Doe.

"Well, when you put it like that, it does sound a bit weird," agreed Lily, and then she laughed at the sound of Marlene's growling stomach.

"I'm starving," she moaned. "There better not be too many first years!"

As it turned out, the sorting ceremony passed rather quickly, and after 'Woods, Maxwell' had joined the Hufflepuff table, Dumbledore stood up to make all the usual announcements. Marlene sat impatiently awaiting the appearance of the food, but was disappointed when the headmaster's speech did not finish on just how forbidden the forbidden forest was. Instead, he continued speaking, a grave expression on his normally kind face.

"And now, on a more serious note," he began, "I think we all know that there are dark times ahead. Unfortunately, there is not much any of us can do prevent this. I speak to each and every one of you when I say that sometimes, doing what is right is not always the easiest choice - but you still have it. Remember that. You always have a choice. I urge you to make the right ones, even if they aren't easy. In such times, we often forget that cooperation and friendship is vital to keep the hope. And bear this is mind: in the most dire situations, hope is sometimes the only thing we have." He paused, and Lily thought she might have seen him scanning the Slytherin table in particular through his half-moon spectacles. But perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her, because, seconds later, he clapped his hands and said, in a decidedly happier tone, "But for now, tuck in!" With that, the four tables suddenly filled up with food, and the whole hall seemed to have to shake itself from deep thought.

"Bloody hell," said Marlene, reaching for the lamb stew, "talk about depressing,"

"I know," said Lily, frowning up at the teacher's table, where Dumbledore was now sat chatting amicably with Professor Sprout.

"Well, someone needs to say it," Mary pointed out, "it might as well be him. Lily, pass us those potatoes, would you?" Lily did so, but her mind was elsewhere. She hated to see the darkness creeping into the world she loved so dearly, but nonetheless, it was there. Since about her second year, a man calling himself 'Lord Voldemort' had been rising in power. He, along with his band of followers ('Deatheaters'), liked to carry out muggle attacks, or terrorise muggle borns, often with dark magic. They were pure blood maniacs, and believed those with non-magic heritage had no right in their world. It scared Lily that people her age also believed in these ideals, and were already in dangerously deep. Many of those in Slytherin house were associated with Voldemort's views - Lily knew that Sirius Black's family prided themselves on being pure blood. She was beginning to realise that perhaps, as a muggle born, she would need to be more careful. Maybe this year she could be in real danger.

Lily was brought back down to earth when Doe nudged her lightly.

"You okay?" She asked quietly, looking concerned.

"Yeah," said Lily, shrugging. "Just... I don't know. I think things are going to be different this year, Doe."

"Yeah, me too, Lily, me too. But we'll be alright. You'll see. We'll be alright." Then she looked past Lily and down the table at the boys. "I'm a bit worried, you know," she said, "they haven't done their start-of-term prank yet..."

"Which isn't such a bad thing, if you ask me," Lily muttered into her soup.

An hour later, James was sat staring down the table at Lily. He had found the six weeks without seeing her incredibly difficult - not that he would have talked to her in that amount of time anyway, but still. His fork hung halfway between his plate and his mouth as he marvelled at the way the candlelight made her auburn hair shimmer...

"Prongs," said Remus loudly, snapping his fingers in front of James' face. "New tactics, remember?"

"Hm? What - oh yeah, sorry, forgot, it's easy you know," James replied, startled out of his daze.

"Well, I hope you won't need reminding again any time soon," said Remus sceptically. "Anyway, it's nearly time! Watch the doors instead of Lily!" This earned him a kick under the table.

Meanwhile, Peter was nervously bouncing his leg up and down, glancing around the hall.

"It's all fine, Wormtail," said Sirius from next to him, "we've timed it perfectly, now stop worrying!"

"Yeah," agreed James, watching the huge oak doors eagerly, "any second now..." And he grinned at Sirius as the glasses began to wobble and a faint rumble sounded from somewhere outside.

Suddenly, the doors flew open to reveal several glittering fireworks that shot across the hall and divided into four. A roaring golden lion charged over the Gryffindor table, an amber badger careered along the Hufflepuff's while an emerald serpent darted across the Slytherin's and a sapphire eagle soared above the Ravenclaw's heads. Even over the din of the fizzing, whistling fireworks, people could still be heard laughing and shrieking with delight as they watched the show progress. After each of the house animals had made their ways over their respective tables, they rose up and, with a colourful explosion, joined to form the glinting Hogwarts coat of arms that disappeared after a minute in a crackling shower of sparks.

The hall exploded into applause and whistles, and Dumbledore himself could be seen clapping furiously. With a smile, he nodded at the Marauders, who grinned back, satisfied with their work.

"Well then," the headmaster announced, standing to silence the hubbub. "After a brilliant conclusion to the feast, I think it's time we all retreat to our beds for some well needed rest. Pip pip!"

The students laughed before rising, murmuring excitedly about the evening's events. Lily stood up and waved to Remus, who hurried over to stand with her.

"Gryffindor first years!" She called loudly, "follow us please!" She and Remus waited while a small group gathered around them before setting off at a brisk walk. Once they were out into the entrance hall and away from all the noise, she stopped and turned to face the new students. "I'm Lily, and this is Remus," she smiled, "we're the Gryffindor prefects. Any problems, feel free to come to us. We're about to show you how to get to the common room, so try and remember the way."

"Once we reach the portrait hole we'll stop and make sure everyone knows the password, and then when we get inside we'll split off into the separate boy's and girl's dormitories. Try and keep up!" Remus finished, before they began to walk again. After several flights of stairs and various things pointed out, they reached the Fat Lady and waited for the excitable first years to finish exclaiming over the talking paintings.

"Right everyone," said Lily, "the password is 'Hippogriff' - easy enough to remember. Have you all got that?" She eyed them, looking out for anyone tired enough to not be paying attention. Remus told the portrait of the old woman what the password was, and she swung open to reveal the common room, which was relatively empty.

The fire cast a warm glow around the large room and the squashy armchairs and sofas dotted around it. A couple of people were sat around some the tables, talking quietly, and the place had a welcoming atmosphere about it that was always nice for the first years.

"Welcome to the common room," said Remus, leading the way inside. "This is where you'll spend a lot of your time, with friends, doing homework, whatever. Any announcements will be made in here, and any notices will pinned up just over there."

"Now," Lily continued, "Remus will take the boys up to their dormitory, which is up the stairs to the left, and I'll take the girls up to theirs, which is up the stairs to the right. Let's go!" Smiling at Remus, Lily led the girls up the stone stairs and stopped outside their dormitory door. "This is where I'll leave you. You'll get schedules tomorrow during breakfast, which starts at 8. You can get there at any time really, as long as you have time to eat before classes, which begin at 9. And, that's everything I think! Don't stay up too late, goodnight!" She watched the line of sleepy girls file into their room, before plodding up to her own.

Her friends were already in their pyjamas, and were sat chatting on Mary's bed.

"Alright Lils?" Asked Marlene.

"Fine," Lily replied wearily, opening her trunk and digging out her pyjamas. "I swear those first years get smaller every year," she commented as she changed.

"I know what you mean!" Agreed Doe, following Lily into the bathroom to brush her teeth. "Did you see that one with the blonde hair that was sorted into Ravenclaw? Tiny!" She held her hand up to her waist to demonstrate this. The two stood quietly after that, going through the routine motions. When they emerged, it was to find Marlene and Mary in bed with their curtains drawn.

"What time is it?" Lily asked.

"About ten," replied Doe, after checking her watch. "Merlin, it's not even that late and I'm knackered!" Lily laughed quietly at this, not wanting to wake her other two friends. "I'm off to bed then. Night, Lily," Doe yawned, clambering into her four poster and pulling the curtains around her.

"Night Doe," Lily whispered into the silence. She turned and padded towards the window next to her bed. So low it reached the floor, and set into the wall, it was one of Lily's favourite spots. She liked sit curled up, looking out onto the grounds from high up in Gryffindor Tower. Watching the line of trees at the edge of the forest, she thought about the firework display. It definitely could have been worse. In fact, she had rather enjoyed it. It could barely have been considered a prank, especially compared to some of the other tricks the boys had played, like the time they had charmed the Slytherin's robes to turn an alarming shade of magenta. Lily felt the corners of her mouth tug slightly - she could be as disapproving as she wanted to when these things happened, but really, they were very funny in hindsight. Actually, if she thought about it, the Marauder's latest show had been quite clever, in it's way. All the houses cooperating and joining to make one school. It completely backed up what Dumbledore had said. Maybe she had underestimated James Potter. She definitely hadn't thought he'd be able to keep up his side of the bargain, but he'd proven her wrong. Maybe, just maybe, he'd be a little less arrogant this year. Although, Lily thought ruefully, it would provide some laughs, which they'd probably all need soon enough. As Dumbledore had pointed out - dark times were coming.

Lily shook herself slightly; her thoughts always seemed to end up this way lately. She needed to be more positive. Deciding that perhaps she should get to sleep, she stood up and climbed into bed. Relishing in the feel of her comfortable four poster, Lily really felt as if she had come home.


End file.
